


Me and you (and you and me)

by SmileLikeYouMeanIt



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, I'll add more tags as I continue the story, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Slow Burn, The rest of GOT7 will appear as the fic continues, Youngjae is the teacher and JB is the student, my first chaptered fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2018-11-14 06:35:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11202453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmileLikeYouMeanIt/pseuds/SmileLikeYouMeanIt
Summary: Choi Youngjae is the new Literature teacher at JYP Academy. There he meets some interesting people, and a far more interesting fellow.Or the one where Youngjae moves to Seoul to escape from his parents and falls in love with a student.





	1. Prologue

When Youngjae decided to move from Mokpo to Seoul, all the people he knew were against it. They told him that the capital was too far away, that Seoulites were cold and nothing like the people from the countryside, and that he was going to grew tired of the city and go back to Mokpo in no time. Although he was scared about the move too, he dismissed his acquaintances’ concerns.

  
However, standing in front of what would be his class for the rest of the year, he felt wary of his choice for the first time since he arrived to the big city.  
JYP Academy had hired him as the new literature teacher since the former one was on maternity leave. He had high hopes for his new life, he was going to renew himself, finally acting like he wanted to act, and liking the things he wanted to like. His parents were nice, but he found them being too close minded in some aspects; they were avid church goers and had strong opinions about some things, clashing with Youngjae’s. Of course, they didn’t know he was gay and he planned on never telling them that; nobody from his hometown had to know.

  
The class he had been adjudicated consisted in thirty 17-18 year old bodies with 5 year old minds, and it was alright with him since he didn’t expect his students to act like grownups. However, he didn’t expect them to be. so. loud. There were erasers and paper planes flying around, and everybody was talking as if Youngjae wasn’t standing there in front of them. When someone finally took notice of him, she told her friend, who told her friend and so on, and the class finally quieted down.

  
“Good morning” He managed to say without his voice breaking. “I’m your new Literature teacher, Choi Youngjae.”

  
“Good morning, Mr. Choi” They said in unison.

  
He proceeded to take attendance and took note of the ones who were absent. According to the former teacher’s notes, they were about to start analyzing Ulalume by Edgar Allan Poe, so he proceeded to take his copy of the poem out of his backpack and started to read it to the class. His voice was something he was proud of, his mom always told him that he had a beautiful voice not only meant for singing, but also made to ‘warm the hearts of those who hear it’. He could feel his students’ eyes as he recited, and the ones who weren’t looking at him had their eyes closed in concentration. They reminded him of his nephews and cousins when he would read them a bedtime story before sleep. The rest of the class continued uneventful, explaining the general aspects of the poem and answering some questions his students had. When it was about to finish he told them to read the poem in their houses and write down their families’ opinions on it.

As soon as he dismissed the class and went to the teacher’s room to grab lunch, he felt his anxiety kicking back in. He now had to get to know people, his colleagues weren’t people he could just put a bad grade on or kick them out of class because they treated him rudely; they were going to be his “friends” for the rest of the year.

  
The teachers’ room consisted in around five circular tables with chairs around them. It (not gladly) reminded him of his own high school diner. There were some teachers already seated, so he let out a quiet hello and made his way to one of the microwaves in the back of the room. He unpacked his tupper and waited for the microwave to finish heating it.

  
“What a nice day to be outside y’all! What are you doing eating down here? We should be outside enjoying the sun!” Said one teacher (he supposed, since he seemed too buff to be a student) as he entered the room. The teacher greeted some of the sitting teachers and made his way to Youngjae. “Who this?” Asking him as if they weren’t in front of each other.

  
“I’m Choi Youngjae, a new literature teacher, I’m covering for Mrs. Kang.”

  
“Oh! Yeah, Jinyoung hyung told me there someone new was going to come. You aren’t from around here, though. Right?”

  
“I’m from Mokpo, although I’m working on my accent so it isn’t so obvious.”

  
“You’re making a great work then; I can barely perceive the accent.”

  
“Are you from here?” Youngjae asked.

  
“I’m originally from Hong Kong. My name is Wang Jia Er, or Jackson, by the way.” Jackson held out his hand and Youngjae took it.

  
“It’s a pleasure.”

  
“Why don’t you accompany me outside? It’s a beautiful day and you can meet some of the other teachers there.”

  
He nodded, took his tupper from the microwave and he walked outside with Jackson. He led him to a spot in the yard where a tree gave a small shadow; there he could see a small group of people seated on the grass, eating.


	2. No matter how we toss the dice, it had to be

If someone would ask a ten year old Youngjae what did he want to be when he grew up, he’d unhesitantly answer that he wanted to be a singer. His twelve and fifteen year old selves would have answered the same thing. He was seventeen when he realized that maybe that career path wasn’t going to be for him, he was seventeen when he realized that the show business wasn’t as pretty as they painted it to be, and it would be less pretty for a gay singer in South Korea. He  _ loved  _ singing, he truly did, and everyone he knew told him that he should pursue a career in singing; however, he loved being himself more. 

 

So, why did he choose teaching Literature as a career? At first it was because he had a crush on his Literature teacher, Mr. Kim, as he got a wife and Youngjae decided to move on, he started to pay more attention in class and to see himself in a lot of characters. He was the hero, the villain, a family member and an extra.  

 

At first, he felt sceptical about his job in the big city, but his first week of class ran smoothly. He have class twice a week to a class of the last year, twice a week to a class of the second year and, although he didn’t learn their names yet, he could match some of the names he had on the list with some of the faces he had in class. He still had to meet some of the students who hadn’t been to his class yet, but it didn’t worry him at all; if they didn’t want to go to class, he couldn’t make them to. However, the principal didn’t think the same way.

 

Youngjae was in his lunch break of his second monday at the JYP Academy when someone told him the principal was calling for him. He said goodbye to his peers and made his way to the principal’s office. He felt his palms starting to sweat as he walked through the long hallways; the office was on the third floor, so he had a long time to panic about what the principal might want to tell him. He stood in front of the door and knocked three times before a voice told him to go inside.

 

He had come to the principal’s only once before, when he had the interview. The principal looked at him with the same eyes that he did that one time, with piercing black eyes. Although his colleagues had told him many times that Mr. Park was a cool guy, Youngjae couldn’t see it, he just creeped him out. 

 

“Take a seat, Youngjae.” And he did. “You may be wondering why I called you.” He was too scared to answer, so he nodded. “As you might have noticed, you have a few students in your senior class who haven’t been coming to class this week.” Mr. Park didn’t wait for him to answer as he continued to talk. “The other teachers have already contacted their parents and they were aware of the situation; however there was a student whose parents we couldn’t reach.”

 

Mr. Park handed him a piece of paper.

 

“Im Jaebum.” Youngjae read. 

 

“I want you to go to the address on the other side of the paper,” he said as Youngjae flipped it over. “he already knows the face of our teachers, so I was thinking that we can use the fact that he has never seen you before to get some information.  We just want to know that he’s alive.”

 

Although Youngjae felt wary about the whole situation, orders were orders, so he decided not to object. 

 

“Is there anything else you need me to do?” He asked.

 

“No, you can go now.”

 

Youngjae bowed and left the room. He still had fifteen minutes left, so he decided to go back to the yard to resume his lunch. There, he could see Jackson waiting for him with wary eyes.

 

“Bro!! Why did the principal call you?” Jackson practically screamed when he saw Youngjae.

 

“Dude, keep your voice down, the students are gonna hear and that’s how rumors start.” One of Youngjae’s peers, Park Jinyoung, whispered. 

 

“Shit, sorry. Take a seat, Youngjae, tell us everything.” Jackson said as he sat down in the grass and tapped on the seat next to him.

 

“...Or don’t, you aren’t obliged to tell us anything.” Jinyoung said.

 

Youngjae sat next to Jackson and took a deep breath.

 

“The principal wants me to go to a student’s house to, and I quote, ‘know that he’s alive’. He gave me the address and everything, so I’m going after class.”

 

“Did he tell you his name?”

 

“Im Jaebum.”

 

Jinyoung and Jackson looked at each other.

 

“Good luck, man. We have had him in our classes and he isn’t an easy guy.” Jinyoung said. “Do you want us to go with you?”

 

“Mr. Park said that he asked me because Jaebum doesn’t know me, so I think that your company will have an use in this case. I really appreciate it, though.me will worsen the situation”

 

“As you wish, Youngjae.”

 

\--

 

As soon as his last class finished he made his way to the student’s house. The building was in another part of the Seoul, so he had to take the subway. Mokpo didn’t have subways, so he still had to get used to it; the big masses confused him and made him anxious, but he managed to hop off in the correct subway stop.  The moment he exited the station he could tell that he was in a part of town completely different from the sketchy neighborhood he lived in. The block around the station had cafes and small stores, but as he looked at the distance he could see huge houses which could perfectly belong to an american movie. According to the map, Im Jaebum’s house was one of them. 

 

He walked around ten minutes before he arrived to the house he was looking for. He knocked three times and waited. He heard some noise inside the building, but nobody came out. He knocked again and took some steps back and lift his gaze to the second story of the house. There was a teenager watching him through one of the windows, and Youngjae waved. The guy, however, after giving Youngjae a puzzled look, quickly disappeared from his view. At least there was someone in that house after all. He was about to go back to the station when he heard someone open the main door.

 

“Hello?”

 

Youngjae thought he would see the guy of the window, but instead there was a small kid with sleepy eyes.

 

“Hi, I’m looking for Jaebum?” Youngjae tried to make his kindest voice, which apparently worked, since the kid didn’t seem to be taken aback by him.

 

“Hyung!! There’s a guy here looking for you!!” He was glad the kid didn’t call him ‘mister’, he still had his pride.

 

“What does he want?” He heard someone yelling

 

“Why don’t you come down here and find out?” The kid yelled back.

 

There were some steps and the guy of the window appeared from a side of the door. Although a bucket hat was covering his eyes, Youngjae could tell he was handsome. The guy looked at him from head to toe and tilted his head.

 

“You must be Im Jaebum.”

 

“And you are?”

 

“Choi Youngjae, your new Literature teacher.”

 

Jaebum took a deep breath and looked at the kid, who was still at the door.

 

“Jaehyung, go inside, It will be a minute.” Jaehyung sulked and went inside, and Jaebum closed the door, leaving the two of them outside. “What do you want?”

 

“Why haven’t you been coming to class?”

 

“I’m sorry? It’s none of your business.” 

 

“I’m afraid it is. Principal Park sent me here to see if you were alive, and apparently, you are. He also wanted me to make you promise that you’ll come back to class tomorrow.” That one last part was a lie, but the other didn’t have to know that. Jaebum looked like he was having a mental argument before he replied.

 

“Look, Youngbae.”

 

“Youngjae.” The older interrupted.

 

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll go to class tomorrow, okay? Now go away.”

 

Youngjae was about to protest when the other went inside and closed the door, leaving him dumbfounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter!! I HAD to put his bucket hat in the story, no matter how much I hate it. I'll have you to know that their ages are all messed up (sorry), but it had to be done if I wanted Youngjae to be older than JB.  
> My tumblr is theholytrash, if you want to follow me smth.  
> I'm planning on updating every week n.n  
> (I don't know why there are two ending notes D: -or at least that's how it appears to me- one is from the chapter and the other is from the prologue...)


	3. I think about you day and night

Youngjae wasn’t surprised to see Jaebum at class the following day, what surprised him was the fact that every person that had been skipping class the other week was there too as if Jaebum’s presence summoned them. He had expected them to be really noisy, but they were surprisingly quiet during the class, especially Jaebum. 

 

“Class, I’m gonna give you your first assignment with me as your teacher.” Their complaints were like music to his ears. “You’ll have to make a poem. The theme is completely free, and it can even be a free verse. The best three will be put on the high school newspaper, of course, if you allow me too. Poetry is the voice of the soul, and not everyone is comfortable sharing a piece of theirs with the world. But, as I’m your teacher and I’ll have to grade you, I’ll have the pleasure to get to know a small piece of your souls.”

 

“When will it be due?” A girl he recognized as Nayeon asked. 

 

“You’ll have two weeks. I’ll help you out with whatever you need, so don’t hesitate to ask me.”

 

Youngjae looked up to see if everyone was paying attention, he could see everyone’s faces staring at him but Jaebum’s, which was hidden behind a classmate’s back. He calmly walked to his desk (which was conveniently in the back) and saw him sleeping on one of his arms.

 

“Jaebum?” He managed to say without sounding irritated. The other continued being lost in his dreams. Youngjae took a deep breath and tried again. “Im Jaebum!” His voice came out louder and angrier than he expected, and the whole class gasped at seeing him lose his composure. However, it did the trick. Jaebum jumped in his desk, completely startled, and look at the teacher half mad half confused. 

 

“Yeah?”

 

“At what time do you finish class today?” Youngjae asked. 

 

“At three.”

 

“See me then.”

 

Youngjae went to the front of the class and continued giving the lecture, checking if Jaebum was paying attention. The younger never stopped looking at him until the bell rang.

 

\----

 

Lunch that day only consisted on Jackson and Jinyoung for some reason he didn’t know. Nevertheless, he liked it that way. Those two were the closest thing to friends he had in a 100 km radius, and they always made him laugh. He didn’t really knew the other colleagues’ names nor they cared about him. 

 

“I witnessed a miracle today.” Jinyoung said. “The Im Jaebum came to class.”

 

“Yeah, I know.” Youngjae said as he ate his sandwich. “I had to go to his house yesterday to make him come, remember?”

 

“And he talked to you? Like, he opened his door and talked to you face to face?” Jackson said, completely surprised.

 

“He didn’t know who I was.”

 

“Still, that’s unheard of.”

 

Youngjae shrugged, not seeing the big deal. “He also fell asleep in my class.”

 

“ _ That’s _ a Jaebum thing to do.”

 

“Really? Well, he has to see me after class for that.” The other two stared at him with opened eyes. 

 

“Keep dreaming, dude. He’s not going to show up.” Jackson said as a matter of fact.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“We have him in our classes, we have been in your position and asked him to stay after class. Never showed up. The principal won’t do anything about it, so there’s nothing we can do.” Jinyoung said.

 

“He’s a lost cause.” Jackson added. 

 

However, Youngjae wasn’t going to quit. He will be respected as a teacher and a kid wasn’t going to belittle him. 

 

\---

 

Youngjae finished his last class at two, so he decided to go to the yard and plan future classes while he waited. He had done half of the work when he heard Jackson shouting in the distance. He looked up and saw some of his students running in the field and Jackson telling them to hurry up while he was sitting in a tall chair blowing a whistle.

 

“You’re gonna grow roots if you don’t run faster!” He yelled at them.

 

One of the ones leading the run was no other than Im Jaebum. He would have picked him as a lazy ass, but he turned out to be quite an athletic fellow. When they had to do jumps he did them, when they had to do push ups he did them, and when they had to form groups to play soccer, he was picked first. He rolled his sleeves and wiped the sweat of his forehead with his arm. One of his classmates passed him the ball and he easily made a goal. While his team was celebrating, Jaebum looked at Youngjae’s general direction, so he pretended to be working, afraid of being caught staring. When he checked his phone to see the time he realized that he had spent more than twenty minutes watching the student. He picked his stuff and went to the classroom to continue his work and to wait until Jaebum finished class.

  
  


When he finished the work he still had ten minutes left, so he decided to take a nap.

 

He almost never dreamed in his sleep, his mother used to tell him that it was because he dreamed enough when he was awake so he had spent all his daily dreams.  However, this time he dreamed of the countryside. He saw a small kid he didn’t recognize running through a field, only stopping when he saw a woman (who Youngjae recognized to be his own mother) smiling at him. She ruffled his hair and whispered something into his ear that made the kid cry.

 

_ Why can’t you be normal, Choi Youngjae? _

 

_ Choi Youngjae? _

 

“Choi Youngjae!” 

 

He snapped his eyes open and lift his head, meeting eyes with a concerned Jaebum. 

 

“I’m sorry I called you by your name, but you were shaking and crying in your sleep.” That’s when he noticed how wet his cheeks and sleeves were. 

 

“I’m sorry, I’ll to the restroom to wash my face.” He stood up and went to the door as fast as he could when he felt a hand holding his arm.

 

“Are you okay?” Jaebum asked. Youngjae asked himself the same thing.

 

“I am. Get a chair and put it in front of my desk. I’ll come back in no time.” The student let go of his arm and did as told.

 

He practically ran to the nearest restroom, glad that nobody seemed to be around. He looked at himself at the mirror and stared at his puffy eyes.  _ Get a grip of yourself.  _ He washed his face, slapped his cheeks to wake himself up and went back to the classroom. 

 

Jaebum was sitting on his chair going through his phone, and looked up when the other walked into the classroom. He didn’t say anything though, and Youngjae was grateful for that.

 

“I have a diagnostic test to see where you’re at.” He said as he searched for the test in his bag. He was lucky to still have a copy with him, because he wouldn’t know what to make him do otherwise. “I’ll let you do it and hand it to me when you’re finished.” The other nodded and took a pencil from his own bag.

 

Youngjae took out his phone and answered some texts, most of them were Jackson’s, asking him if Jaebum had gone. He answered with the truth, which made his friend text with caps demanding a picture. At first he told him that he wasn’t going to, but Jackson had a way to get what he wanted, ending with him trying to take a picture as slyly as he could. The student didn’t seem to notice him. He sent the picture and turned on the silent mode on his phone. He thought of deleting the picture, but somehow he decided against it.

 

“Mr. Choi?” Jaebum asked.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I finished.” Youngjae looked at the time and only ten minutes had passed since he had started. 

 

“Don’t you wanna check your answers?”

 

“I already did.” 

 

They both knew it was bullshit but he didn’t have the strength to argue, so he accepted Jaebum’s test and let him go. Youngjae was so busy putting away his stuff that he missed the sad look his student gave him and the soft goodbye that escaped his lips before he exited the classroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hoped you liked this chapter!   
> I don't know if you noticed, but I've been using the lyrics of 'Happy Together' by The Turtles for the fanfic title and for each chapter's title. I hope I don't run out of lyrics haha   
> I'm sorry if you find any typos :C none of my friends know english enough to be my beta readers, so...  
> Have a nice week!


	4. Imagine me and you (I do)

Gladly for Youngjae, his apartment complex was only two subway stops away from the high school building, so he arrived “home” in no time. Although a week isn’t usually enough for someone to get used to a new place to live, he felt quite alone every time he entered his apartment. The building was an gray and old, and just looking at its facade gave him chills. The lift’s lighting worked whenever it wanted, and the hallways were long and creepy. His apartment wasn’t much better; he had bought some paintings and plants to give it a bit of life, but he didn’t succeed. 

 

He put his backpack on the floor next to the table and began to check Jaebum’s diagnostic test. The paper was full of small drawings, and he only had written his name. The drawings weren’t even good ones, they looked like they were from a five-year-old. It upset him that Jaebum didn’t try to answer any of the questions, but it also made him sad that maybe his last literature teacher didn’t try hard enough to make everyone invested in the class.

 

He was about to stand up to check if he had instant noodles in the kitchen when his phone rang with a notification.

 

\-- Jackson hyung.

Hey!!!!

Wanna grab dinner with me and JY????!?!?!?!!?

 

Sure! Where do we meet?

 

Jackson texted him the details and he had two hours to be there, but since it was downtown and he hadn’t have the time to go there before, he decided to go earlier and walk around. The street was full of small stores, arcades and some noraebangs. He really missed singing at the top of his lungs, so he went to the least sketchy noraebang he found. 

 

He was afraid of being seen strangely for renting a room for one, but the girl in the reception couldn’t care less; she was reading a shoujo manga and didn’t give him a glance when she was stating him which room was available for him to use. He texted Jackson telling him to call him when he was nearby and went to the room.

 

He sang like he hadn’t in a long time. ABBA, Justin Timberlake, Frank Sinatra, H.O.T, Super Junior, Rihanna, he sang them all until his throat was dry and his body demanded him something to drink. With heavy steps he exited the room and made his way to the vending machines near the entrance. He put in the coins and chose a Sprite, and he looked around as he waited for the machine to give him the drink.

 

He heard the bell from the door and a group of guys entered the noraebang, being Jaebum one of them. At first he thought that the others might be from JYP, but when he looked carefully he could see that they were visibly older than Jaebum. Said student noticed Youngjae and they held their gazes for some seconds, but the younger didn’t bow nor did anything that would be interpreted as if they knew each other. 

 

They were loud, and it visibly bothered the clerk, who had to close her manga to tell them to lower their voices and to hurry into the room she had indicated them.

 

The vending machine gave him the Sprite and he walked to his room. As soon as he entered he saw the group of people that had gone with Jaebum in  _ his  _ noraebang room. Some of them were fighting to choose a song while others laughed in the back, no one except from Jaebum, who was looking at him with curious eyes, had noticed him standing there. He thought about saying something, telling them it wasn’t their room to begin with, but he decided against it. He gave Jaebum a small smile and, after paying for the time he had used the room, he left to a park nearby.

 

He checked the time in his cell phone and still had half an hour left, so he sat on a bench next to a fountain and waited. He had refreshed his instagram for the twentieth time when he felt someone sitting next to him. He looked and saw Jaebum watching the floor. 

 

“Hi.” He used his teaching voice.

 

He smelled alcohol in his breath. 

 

“Did you drink?” He dared to ask. “I won’t judge you or call you out, I just wanna know.”

 

“I did.” He said with a hoarse voice. 

 

“Why are you out here? Weren’t you with your friends?” Jaebum wouldn’t meet his eyes, the influence of the alcohol changed his usual arrogant facade into a shyer one.

 

“I wanted to take some air.”

 

“That’s okay, everybody needs to take a breath from time to time.”

 

He heard his ringtone and answered.

 

_ Youngjae-ah! _

 

“Hyung!”

 

_ IWe are near the bar, where are you? _

 

“I’m next to a fountain in a park, I don’t know the name though...”

 

_ That’s okay, there’s only one park with a fountain nearby, I’ll go get you. _

 

“Thank you hyung!!”

 

He hung up and looked at  Jaebum, who was now smiling at him. 

 

“Do I have something on my face?” Youngjae asked.

 

“Huh? Ah, no, no.” Jaebum took a deep breath and stood up. “I guess I should get going.” He said with a face one wouldn’t normally use when you’re going back to your friends. Youngjae found it sad, so he said the unthinkable.

 

“Do you want to join me and two other people for dinner?”

 

Jaebum looked genuinely surprised at the invitation, but he nodded. He was about to sit back when they heard Jackson’s yelling.

 

“Youngjae!!” He was almost out of breath, running with a bright face while Jinyoung followed along walking a few metres behind. 

 

“Is this Im Jaebum?” Jinyoung asked as they both eyed the student with curiosity. 

 

“Yes. We saw each other in the street and I decided to invite him to have dinner with us.”

 

Somehow Youngjae could feel they knew he was bullshitting, but they decided to let it slide and not give it a second thought. Jackson told them to follow him to the bar. Jinyoung walked next to Jackson and Youngjae was about to, too, but he noticed Jaebum walking a few steps behind so he decided to give him a little company. They walked side by side, falling in a comfortable silence.

 

They arrived to a dark green bar called “Lucky Seven”. 

 

“Home sweet home!!” Jackson shouted as they got inside.

 

_ Lucky Seven  _ wasn’t too crowded nor empty, it had a dim light, some tables and a long counter. He liked it there. The guy who seemed to be the barman waved at Jackson as they made their way there. 

 

“Jackson! What brings you here on a weekday?”

 

“I invited my friends to dinner. What does the chef recommend?” He said as he leaned over the counter to give his friend a hug.

 

“A tasty hamburger with french fries, Michelin star worthy.”

 

“Great! We’ll have one each.”

 

As a mother duck with her ducklings, the other three followed Jackson to a table; him and Jinyoung sat on one side, while Jaebum and Youngjae sat on the other.

 

“My friend Mark, the one on the bar, owns this place, we have been friends for a long time now.” Jackson explained as he called a waitress to the table. She gestured him to wait a minute and he nodded.

 

“Really? You’ve never told me about him.” Jinyoung said.

 

“Don’t worry, Jinyoungie, you’re still my BFF, I guess it never came up.” He shrugged. “What will you have to drink?”

 

“A coke.” Jaebum said.

 

“They only have pepsi, though.” 

 

“Don’t they taste the same?” Jinyoung said, and they all looked at him with bewildered eyes. “What?”

 

“And you wonder why I didn’t tell you about this place; you embarass me, Park Jinyoung.”

 

Jinyoung narrowed his eyes at Jackson before he spoke. “I’ll have a glass of red wine, I can’t deal with you sober.”

 

“I’d like a pepsi, too.” Youngjae added.

 

“What are you? Five?” Jackson said but then looked at Jaebum apologetically, “I’m sorry dude, but you’re like a kid.”

 

“It physically hurts me to say this, but I agree with him. Live a little, Youngjae! Aren’t you like twenty-two?”

 

“I’m twenty-three.” He corrected him. “I just don’t feel like drinking alcohol.”

 

When the waitress finally approached their table, Jackson ordered their drinks and a beer for himself. They talked (although Jackson did most of it, and Jaebum stayed silent the whole time) until the meals arrived, and when they began to eat the only sound that could be heard was from the other tables and the background jazz.

 

“So, Youngjae.” Jackson said as he cleaned off the ketchup that was on his mouth. “Did you leave a girlfriend down in Mokpo?” He was used to answer this kind of questions and, although he did tell himself that he would try to be more open about his sexuality, he still had the fear that his new friends wouldn’t take it well, so he decided to omit the truth.

 

“No, I didn’t have a girlfriend or anything of the sorts. The only thing that I feel like I left behind are my nephews and nieces.”

 

“Aww you’re such a softie!!” Jackson squealed as he motioned the waitress for another glass of beer. “I miss my family in Hong Kong too, but as time passes you end up learning to live with that. I used to call them everyday, now I talk to them once a week or two. I’m sure your phone bills might be going off the roof.” He laughed.

 

“Not really...” He didn’t know why he was telling them that. “I haven’t talked to them since I got here.”

 

“Were they against you moving?” Jinyoung asked.

 

“Yeah.” He sighed. “They wanted me to stay there for my whole life; it suffocated me, you know? I needed some air.”

 

“Everybody needs to take a breath from time to time” Jaebum said, looking at him in the eye and surprising everyone at the table.

 

“Yeah, you’re right.” Youngjae beamed a smile to the student and the other looked away, who apparently found something really interesting in his paper napkin.

 

They continued talking for a bit until Jinyoung checked the time and announced that it was too late for people who have to wake up early the next day to be roaming around the city and, after Jackson finished complaining, they paid for their dinner (Youngjae paid for Jaebum’s too, as the younger didn’t have enough cash). They walked together to the station, where all of them but Jaebum took the same subway since his house was on the other side of the city. Jackson and Jinyoung’s stop was the same one, so they hop off first, leaving Youngjae behind. It wasn’t too late, so there were plenty of people on his way home, he stopped by a convenience store to buy instant noodles and called it a night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!!   
> I feel like I'll have to take lyrics of other songs, I'm running short with Happy Together haha


	5. I can't see me loving nobody but you

If Youngjae thought that, after his bonding time with Jaebum, the latter would start being a good student at class, he was really wrong. Jaebum had the indecency to sleep from the beginning of the class to its very end. This time he didn’t go to the student’s desk like before. Instead, he decided to wait until the class was over to call him before he exited the class.

 

“Im Jaebum?” He said and gained his attention. “I would like to speak to you for a bit.”

 

Jaebum walked to his desk and waited until he talked.

 

“You fell asleep today as well.”

 

“I did.” He answered as a matter of fact.

 

“You  _ do  _ know that I’ll have to ask you to stay after class, right?”

 

Jaebum put his hands on his pockets and gave him a side smile.

 

“I can’t, sorry.” He didn’t seem sorry at all.

 

“Care to tell me why?” The student took a wrinkled pamphlet from his pocket and put it on the desk. “What is this?”

 

“The reason why I can’t stay. ”

 

He looked at the pamphlet in front of him. It was from an open BBoying tournament dated for that same day in two hours. He took a glance at Jaebum and he supposed it made sense. He was athletic and gave out a  _ cool  _ vibe. He took note of the place where it was held and spoke up.

 

“Okay, I’ll let it go just this time. Next time, if you have something like this after class, don’t sleep in class.” Jaebum nodded, took the pamphlet with him and exited the classroom. That was Youngjae’s last class of the day, so he said his goodbyes to Jackson and Jinyoung when he came across them in the hallway, and left.

 

Truthfully, he hadn’t thought about the BBoying tournament until he saw an identical pamphlet to the one Jaebum had shown him on the pavement near the subway stop. He picked it up, cleaned up the dirt and put it in his back pocket. The venue was near his apartment, so he figured that, after he got home, he’d see whether he’d go or not.

 

He arrived to his apartment, flopped on his sofa and turned on the tv. He put the cooking channel and took a small nap at the sound of a man explaining the secrets of making the perfect caesar salad. 

 

He woke up a while later with a major neck pain, he felt like he had slept for a whole day. Youngjae checked his phone to see the time and realized that only an hour had passed. Although he really didn’t want to leave the apartment, his curious ass wanted to see what the tournament was about and still hoped his student was good. He put all his will on standing up and, after the dizziness faded, he grabbed his coat and made his way to the tournament venue.

 

He only had to walk five blocks, but he still put his headphones on and listened to music to calm his nerves. He knew he didn’t look old, he wasn’t; but his teacher status still made him feel like he would be out of place in the crowd.

 

He still had a block left to walk when the music from what he supposed was the tournament venue started to give him difficulties to listen to his own music, so he put away his headphones and followed the sound. The tournament was held in a big warehouse, with lots of people talking outside and some of them entering. The pamphlet didn’t say anything about an entry fee, so he just made his way into the warehouse and hoped that nobody stopped him to ask him for money. The tournament had still to begin, so he stood by a corner and watched the people around him. There were people who looked older, younger and of the same age as him, so he stopped feeling so out of place and loosened up.

 

“Welcome, everyone!” Someone was being piggybacked and holding a microphone. It was needless to say that Youngjae was perplexed. However, nobody seemed to mind, since they cheered and whistled. The man hopped off from his ‘ride’ and introduced the tournament, he thanked the audience for being there and asked for cheers for the first participant. He couldn’t catch the name, but as the person stepped into the stage, he realized it wasn’t the person he was wanting to see.

 

About four people passed before Youngjae recognized the stage name of the following contestant.

 

“This is someone you may know from other tournaments; say hello to our next BBoy, JB!!” Everyone in the crowd went wild and Jaebum stepped into the stage. He had his hair pulled backwards, which made him look less than a high schooler. 

 

The music started and everybody went quiet, looking at him. He didn’t know much (more like he didn’t know anything at all) about BBoying, but he could tell that he was really good at it. All the contestants were good, but something about Jaebum hypnotized him. It seemed like his body did exactly what he wanted it to do, while Youngjae could barely stand up after sitting for a long time. The performance ended too early for his liking, but no one else seemed to mind. The host moved on to the next contestant and Youngjae’s attention drifted again. 

 

“Well, our judges will now have some time to decide their verdict, the results will be ready in some minutes, we will turn down the volume when the time comes, so don’t go far!!” The crowd dispersed and everyone went back to what they were doing. He saw Jaebum come behind a big group of people, and Youngjae immediately wished he hadn’t gone there. A teacher going to a student’s BBoying tournament was a little off no matter how you looked at it. 

 

He was about to leave when Jaebum’s eyes found his. He could tell he was surprised by his presence, but he didn’t looked as creeped out as Youngjae thought he would. Maybe he just was a good actor.

 

“I never thought I’d see you here.” He said as he approached him.

 

“Yeah, well, here I am.” Youngjae laughed uncomfortably.

 

“Do you do BBoying?” Jaebum asked with a genuine interest.

 

“Me? No. I’m not athletic. Although it’s interesting to see other people do it.”

 

“It is.” He said with a smile. Jaebum seemed to be high with the adrenaline of the performance, because he was acting out of character. Or maybe he was always like that and Youngjae didn’t know. “Did you come to see me?” 

 

Youngjae could always lie, but anything he’d say wouldn’t sound truthful. 

 

“I did.” Jaebum’s eyes opened wide as if he didn’t expect his teacher to be that upfront about going to see his student’s tournament.

 

He heard some people calling Jaebum from the distance. 

 

“Sorry, I have to go now.” He seemed to be thinking about something, because he couldn’t stop biting his lip and frowning. “Stay until the end.” He said half as an order and half as a plead. “Just until you congratulate me for winning first place.”

 

He went back to his friends and Youngjae took a long sigh, he had been sighing a lot for being so young.

 

A few minutes passed and the volume went low as the host had said.

 

“Thank you for your patience! The winner of today’s tournament has been decided!!” Someone from behind the stage have him a small paper. “Drum rolls, please.” And everyone started to do drum rolls on their thighs. “Our BBoy of the night is… JB!!” 

 

The crowd exploded and began to chant his name, even Youngjae himself found himself chanting for him. Jaebum went to the stage and took a small plaque they gave him. He thanked everyone and got off the stage as his friends gave him big hugs.

 

People began to scatter, and he was thinking of go back home, but he remember his sort-of-promise with Jaebum so he stayed. While he was waiting for him he checked his cellphone in case anybody had texted him, and he found a text from his mother.

\-- Mom

Did you take your grandfather’s belt with you?

 

Of course she didn’t ask how he was. She just wanted to know if he had that stupid belt. He didn’t, by the way, so he texted her that and put out his phone.

 

When he saw Jaebum again he had his hair covering his forehead and was chatting with some people he saw before. He seemed to take notice of Youngjae, because he said his goodbyes to his friends and started to walk in his general direction.

 

“You waited.” He said.

 

“I did.” 

 

The two of them walked out of the warehouse. The sun had yet to set, but the sky was already tainted with pink and orange. 

 

“Congratulations for winning. You were impressive out there.” He said. “Had you been practising for a long time?”

 

“In every free time I had.”

 

“Is that why you have been sleeping in class?”

 

“I wish. I have insomnia; I can’t seem to get any sleep at night no matter how hard I try.”

 

“Have you ever gone to a therapist? It could help.”

 

Jaebum looked at him as if he had said the most ridiculous thing in the planet.

 

“No long time ago a doctor recommended my mother to take Jaehyung to a therapist. Said doctor moved to Busan a week later.” He began to kick a small rock in the floor as he continued to speak. “You know the worst part? My mother is the head of psychiatry in St. Andrew’s Hospital here in Seoul. She’d know the second I go to an appointment in any hospital, they all know her.” He gave the rock a kick too strong and it rolled far away from where they were standing.

 

Youngjae knew he was overstepping boundaries, but he couldn’t help to meddle in. 

 

“Let’s exchange numbers.” Jaebum eyed him with suspicion, something he didn’t blame him for. “That way you can call me or text me whenever you want, if you ever need someone to talk to.”

 

He looked hesitant at first, but then he unlocked his phone and gave it to him so he could put on his number and text himself to save Jaebum’s number on his own phone.

 

“I guess I’ll try to stay awake at class...” Youngjae gave him a big smile. 

 

He walked him to the subway station and after dropping him off he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that I couldn't post a chapter last week T_T   
> I had an exam, so I couldn't focus on writing...  
> I really appreciate all your comments!!


	6. Slow down you crazy child

As Jaebum’s class didn’t have literature classes for the rest of the week, Youngjae didn’t know how the younger was doing. Of course, he didn’t know how any of the other students were doing, either, but he was worried about him, specifically about him. Was he able to get some sleep? Did something happen to him that caused the insomnia? He wanted to text him or something, just to check up on him, but he felt like he was overstepping his boundaries as a teacher. Every time he walked in the hallway or sat in the yard his eyes were searching for Jaebum, but they never found him.

 

Friday finally came. Jackson invited him and Jinyoung over to his apartment to hang out at night, but he had some classes to plan for the next week so he declined. He went to the supermarket to buy groceries and headed to his apartment. 

 

It was past midnight and Youngjae continued working. He reached his coffee mug and realized it was empty, so he took it as a sign to rest and went to sleep. He felt as he just started sleeping when his cellphone rang. At first he thought about letting it ring, but as the caller didn’t seem to give up, he eventually answered it.

 

“...Hello?” He said with a husky voice.

 

“Hyung?” Youngjae looked at the screen and realized Jaebum was on the other line.

 

“Jaebum… What is it?”

 

“You told me I could call you whenever I wanted to talk.”

 

“You’re right, I did” He smiled. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”

 

“Yeah… I keep turning and turning on the bed.”

 

“How has your day been?” He asked Jaebum.

 

“Okay, I guess. I slept all through History class, though.” 

 

“Are your parents home or are you alone with your brother?” Youngjae asked.

 

“Neither. I don’t know where my parents are, and Jaehyun is at a friend’s house.”

 

“I see.”

 

Jaebum sighed on the other line and he could hear a chuckle. They both knew they didn’t have much to talk about, but Youngjae didn’t want to hang up yet.

 

“Tell me a bit about you, hyung.” Jaebum said.

 

“There’s nothing much to tell about me. I was born and raised in Mokpo, studied literature education at college, and then moved here.”

 

“Why did you decide to teach literature?”

 

“I liked my highschool teacher.” He couldn’t believe he was telling that to his own student, he was too tired to filter his words. However, Jaebum didn’t seem to be taken aback by that, since he laughed. 

 

“I get that.” 

 

“You too want to study something because a teacher inspired you?”

 

“No, I too like a teacher.” Youngjae felt his face heating up and struggled to find the words to answer to that. Although he knew he wasn’t talking about him, his heart was racing as if he was.

 

“I guess you don’t sleep at her class, then.”

 

“Oh, I do.”  Youngjae started to laugh out loud and Jaebum followed him. “I really like your voice, hyung.”

 

“Thank you, I like your voice too.” He said with a smile on his face. 

 

“Can you sing me something? You sound like you’d be a good singer.”

 

Youngjae debated whether to accept or not.

 

“Okay.”

 

He began to sing ‘Vienna’ by Billy Joel, one of his favourite all time songs. He always listened to it whenever he felt down or lost. Jaebum didn’t talk or make a sound while he was singing. After he finished, he waited some seconds for the younger to tell him what he thought of it, but on the other line there was nothing but silence.

 

“Jaebum?” He asked carefully. He didn’t answer, so he checked if the call was still on, which it was. He figured the other finally fell asleep, so he said his goodnights with a low voice and hang up. He turned off the lights and tried to resume his sleeping, but his mind was full with Jaebum’s voice. 

 

What was happening to him?

 

\--

 

Saturday had passed and he hadn’t got any calls from Jaebum, and, as Sunday evening arrived, and he had already planned all the classes for the week, so he decided to reward himself with a cake from the grocery store. He chose a red velvet cake. He was thanking the clerk while exiting the store when he heard his phone ringing. He checked it and noticed it was a text message from Jaebum.

 

\-- Jaebum

Hyung, I have a favour to ask you.

  
  


_ That was weird. _

 

What is it?

Is everything okay?

I know this is too much to ask, it’s okay if you don’t want to.

 

Tell me and I’ll see what I can do.

 

Can you record yourself singing Vienna?

 

...Why?

 

I can sleep if it’s with your voice.

  
  


Youngjae knew they both were overstepping their boundaries as student-teacher, but he knew the other really needed to have more good night sleeps. And a record of him singing wouldn’t hurt anyone.

  
  


Ok, I’ll do it when I get home.

  
  


Although the grocery store was two blocks from his apartment complex, he recorded the song half an hour later. He was too nervous to turn on the record button on his cell phone. He had sung in front of other people before, so he didn’t understand what made him so nervous. He sent it and Jaebum answered him with a short ‘Thanks’.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is short :(( It's mainly because the next one will be a bit long, so I wanted to keep this in a separated chapter.  
> This chapter's title is from Vienna. I LOVE that song, it brings me so much peace.


	7. When you look at me and smile I somehow start to smile with you

Is being in love with someone’s voice the same as being in love with them?

 

For Jaebum, people’s voice were an extension of their soul. It didn’t mean that those who couldn’t sing or couldn’t speak at all didn’t have a soul, it just was that their voices manifested in a different way. 

 

In Youngjae’s case, it wasn’t just his technique what marvelled him, but how he could capture the song’s feeling with his voice. When he listened to it he felt at peace. He could finally put his guard down and let himself float in the darkness of his room. But did that mean that he was in love with him? 

 

Jaebum was positive that he had a crush. He knew he wasn’t gay, he had girlfriends before and liked each one of them. But something about his literature teacher made him lose his breath, made him want to be with him and tell him sappy things while untangling his hair.

 

Having asked him to record himself singing was definitely his greatest idea ever. He slept like a baby and woke up with an amount of energy he hadn’t had for a long time. Jaebum grabbed an apple from the fridge, greeted his little brother and made his way to class.

 

Since his classes started at the same time as most jobs and other high schools did, the subway was almost completely full. He had to slip in and hope not to fall when it moved. When his surroundings where less crowded, he could finally sit down. Jaebum was about to put his earbuds on when he heard a familiar high pitched voice.

 

“Didn’t I tell you the assignment was due today?” The person said.

 

“You didn’t! And now Mr. Park will slit my throat when he realizes I didn’t do it...” This voice he couldn’t recognize.

 

Jaebum looked up and tried to search for the source of the voice, and he succeeded. A fellow BBoy, Kim Yugyeom, if he remembered correctly, was talking to his friend. They were wearing the same uniform as he did, so he supposed they were his Juniors.

 

“What if I tell him we did it together? I don’t mind sharing the grade.” 

 

“Are you kidding me? He hates you. He could kill you if given the chance.” He laughed, while Yugyeom looked as determined as ever.

 

“I’ll beg.” And with a lower voice Jaebum managed to hear, he added. “I’ll suck his dick.”

 

His friend couldn’t control his laughter. “Are you willing to cheat on me for my sake?” His friend, no, boyfriend? patted him in the back as Yugyeom sulked. The lady next to them didn’t find it funny, though, since she moved about five seats away. While his boyfriend didn’t seem to notice it, Yugyeom did. He began to look around the subway, apparently worried about who might have heard their conversation (a bit late, if he might add). That’s when he realized Jaebum’s presence. 

 

The other looked too terrified to have been talking about those things with such a loud voice in a closed space. However, Jaebum decided to simply wave at him and Yugyeom hesitantly mirrored him. His boyfriend looked confused, whispering something into his ear, to which Yugyeom seemed to reply, whispering again.

 

Was that what having a partner of the same sex was like? Old ladies avoiding you in the subway and having to worry about how people you know might react? What if he started a relationship with Youngjae? Would people avoid them too? 

 

He put on his earbuds and closed his eyes when the teacher’s voice reached his ears.

 

“Dude, wake up.” He opened his eyes and saw Yugyeom’s boyfriend in front of him, with one of Jaebum’s earbuds on his hand. “We’re almost there.”

 

He looked at the subway screen and realized he was right.

 

“Thanks, man.” The guy gave him a side smile and went near the subway door, where Yugyeom was standing. Jaebum stretched and held his backpack, waiting for the subway to arrive to the station.

 

\--

 

He had been attending JYP Academy since Freshmen year, so he could say he knew the building by heart. He let his feet make the job and, before he realized, he was already inside his classroom heading to his seat. He didn’t bother greeting his classmates, it wasn’t something they usually did anyways.

 

The class settled in, they were supposed to have class with Youngjae; he had heard his voice a few hours later but couldn’t wait to hear it again. 

 

Five minutes past the start of the class and no signs of Youngjae.

 

Ten minutes…

 

Fifteen minutes and everyone was ready to head out to hang out in the yard. And when twenty minutes passed and there were no signs of the teacher, they frantically exited the class towards the yard. Jaebum, however, stayed seated, hoping that Youngjae would come.

 

\--

 

The bell rang, stating the end of the “literature class” and he still was still on his seat, waiting for someone who never came. 

 

His classmates came back from the break and History Class started.

 

\--

 

The same thing happened the next day, he finally came completely woken up because of Youngjae’s recorded voice, but the real thing was nowhere to be seen. He wanted to call him, to ask him how he was, but he decided against it. Then the weekend came, and a week had passed with him not seeing or hearing about him.

 

Friday had always been his favourite day of the week as he got to practice his BBoying with other people, learning tips and giving advice himself. They always got together in a dance studio one of the usual dancers had downtown, so he had to take the subway from his house. 

 

He had a warm jacket but the cool air managed to chill him regardless, he was thankful that the studio was practically near the subway station.

 

When he arrived, the studio was still empty. Hyojeon, the girl who took care of the studio when the owner wasn’t around, greeted Jaebum with a shy smile, and he smiled back. He dropped his backpack on the floor and began stretching while he waited for the others.

 

“Hi, hyung.” He recognized Yugyeom’s voice, but he had to look up to make sure it was him, as had never seen him in the studio before.

 

“Oh, Yugyeom.” He said. “Wanna stretch with me?” The other nodded and they helped each other to stretch.

 

“I never come to these things, but I didn’t have literature class today, so I got out early and my friday finished earlier than usual.”

 

“Oh, do you have Literature class with Youngjae hyung too?”

 

“Yeah, I read that he was sick and that’s why he missed class this week.”

 

“You read it? Where?”

 

Yugyeom looked at him for a second and then averted his gaze.

 

“Just, somewhere. I have my ways.”

 

“You have your ways?” He quoted while crossing his arms; Yugyeom looked around and took a step closer to him.

 

“A friend hacked in the JYP network to...do something, and we saw that in one of their e-mails.”

 

Looking at Yugyeom, Jaebum thought he looked like a puppy being caught for doing something bad; and maybe he did, but he was more focused on the fact that he could finally know what happened to Youngjae. He then got an idea he hoped the younger wouldn’t find creepy.

 

“Can you ask your hacker friend to do a favour for me? It isn’t too difficult or anything.”

 

“Uhm… Sure, what is it?” He said, not sounding sure at all.

 

“I have to take him something,” he lied. “so I would like to know Youngjae’s address.” He said while stretching his leg, trying to pretend that his heart wasn’t about to burst out of his chest.

 

“I’ll tell him about it, although he’ll make you pay a fee.”

 

“I wasn’t expecting less.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack  
> Sorry for not updating for some weeks :C 
> 
> I decided to use Jaebum's POV for this chapter, just so you know a bit of his life too.  
> Thank you for reading!!!


	8. Today I’ll take your breath away

He hated being sick. 

 

Sure, it was all fun and games when he was a kid and could stay home and play video games all day, but being a sick grown up was awful. First of all, he was  _ really _ sick. He woke up on monday with the worst headache ever and felt like floor was moving under his feet. Youngjae somehow managed to get to where the thermometer was and put it his arm while he laid in the sofa.

 

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he reached for the thermometer and groaned at the imprinted number.

 

39°C

 

Of course he felt horrible, he was basically burning. 

 

He sent Jackson a text telling him that he had a fever and to give notice on that to the staff, and let himself drown in the sleepiness that was invading him.

 

Days passed by and he didn’t get better. He was thankful for having enough food in his fridge, because he didn’t know how he would have survived; although the fever made him eat a lot less than he usually would.

 

He didn’t know what day it was, but an unfamiliar knock on the door woke him up. He didn’t feel like standing from the comfortable sofa he was laying on. The person outside didn’t seem to give up, since they continued knocking, earning a groan from Youngjae.

 

“Who is it?” He managed to say out loud.

 

“Uhmm...” The person outside seemed to hesitate. “I’m Im Jaebum.” Youngjae stood up as quickly as he heard the name, too quickly if he may add. “I just wanted to check up on you.”

 

He forgot his headache and his terrible dizziness, and run - as much as he could call  _ walking relatively fast trying to get a grip on every furniture in his house  _ running - to the bathroom to check himself in the mirror. He looked like death. Youngjae fixed his hair as much as he could, and opened the door for Jaebum.

 

The student had a small blush on his cheeks and was looking down at his shoes. They both knew that the situation wasn’t a student-teacher one, but there they were.

 

“Do you want to come in?” He said. Jaebum looked up. He could see the younger realizing how sick he was just by looking at him, but he didn’t say anything and just nodded. “I’m sorry for the mess,” He said while heading to the sofa, Jaebum trailing behind. “It has been a rough week.” 

 

“Yeah, I guess I can see that.” Jaebum said, fighting a laugh. Youngjae’s clothes were all over the place, there were unwashed dishes from days prior and he knew he stank. 

 

Youngjae sat on the sofa, waiting for Jaebum to do the same, but the latter started to pick up the clothes scattered in the floor. He thought about asking what he was doing, but he knew the kind of answer he would get, so he just watched him pick them up. His face appeared calm, but something in his eyes made Youngjae think that he was thinking hard about something. He folded everything with care, even the underwear. His fingers weren’t too long, but he found their slow movement very appealing. He liked his nose, too; even though it wasn’t something he specifically looked in someone, he appreciated a nice nose from time to time. His shoulders were broad, he imagined himself running his fingertips through his naked skin while leaving small marks of his nails; his hands would lower to the hem of his pants and…

 

Wait.

 

What?

 

Was he doing what he thought he was doing?

 

Youngjae averted his eyes to his brown sofa and began to play with his fingers, trying to keep his mind - and a certain friend down there - off Jaebum and his goddamn shoulders. 

 

“Where do I put this?” The guy with the shoulders asked while he lifted the folded clothes.

 

“Uhmm just leave them on my bed.” 

 

“Okay.”

 

Jaebum headed to the bedroom and Youngjae took his chance to try and make his kitchen look a bit more presentable, trying to clean at least his pots. When the tap water was warm enough, he tried to do the dishes. His arm was tired right after he started, and he began to feel sweat dripping on his forehead; his whole body felt numb, and black spots began to cloud his vision. Suddenly, two hands held his arms as if they were trying to keep him stable, and a warm breath tickled one of his ears.

 

“You okay?” Jaebum said, his voice low. Youngjae turned around, startled, which made him more dizzy. However, as dizzy as he was, he could notice how his own nose was touching the other’s cheek, and froze. Jaebum took a step back, his hands still on his arms; his lips forming a small smile.

 

“I was trying to wash the dishes.” Youngjae said, even if it was a clear thing to see. “I still get dizzy though...”

 

“Let me do it.” He felt like he was a five year old with a babysitter. “You can help me dry them.” That made him feel more like a baby! However, he didn’t have enough energy to try to defend his honor, so he just did as told and grabbed a scrubber.

 

“It was weird not having you in class this week.” Jaebum said.

 

“What do you mean? It has only been a few weeks since I started teaching here.” He laughed, but Jaebum looked as thoughtful as he was when picking up the clothes from the floor some minutes earlier.

 

“I got used to you, I guess; in a good sense. I like your presence, and I like your voice.” Youngjae’s face was on fire when his mind processed what the other had said. He built up his courage and looked at Jaebum, whose face turned into an alluring shade of pink and was staring back. He lifted his hand without breaking the silence and placed it on Youngjae’s cheek, his thumb caressing where the mole under his eye laid. The hand felt cold over his face, and his mouth turned dry. Jaebum’s face began to get closer to his, and as if they both were opposite poles of a magnet, the space between them decreased.

 

But Youngjae’s mind, which seemed to turn off a few seconds, ran again. He was about to kiss his own student; even if the other appeared to be infatuated, it was a short thing. Sure, Jaebum was a catch, but he had to think about the other as well. He knew the younger was going to forget him soon, that he was going to leave, and he didn’t take it personally - although the sting on his chest said otherwise -; so he would do what a good teacher would do.

 

“Wait.” He said, coming louder than he intended. Jaebum’s eyes opened and his eyebrows formed a frown, probably trying to figure out what he did wrong. And the thing was, he didn’t do anything wrong, which made Youngjae feel worse. “I think you should go now, I’ll call Jackson or Jinyoung if I need anything.”

 

“Did I do something…?” The hand that was on his cheek disappeared, and his skin felt his absence as if it had always belonged there. 

 

“You don’t want this.” His voice broke when he spoke, but he payed no attention to it. “So go, I don’t want you here.” He wanted him there so so much, he wanted to keep him in a little box and never let him go. “See you in class.” He turned to continue with the dishes, and waited for Jaebum to exit the apartment. But he felt a pair of lips kissing his cheeks, which made him face him again. “Didn’t I ask you to leave?” 

 

His eyes began to get wet, he had to try to stop them from forming tears, but one managed to slip through. Before he could stop him, Jaebum’s lips kissed the tear that was rolling through his skin.

 

“I won’t go anywhere.” He said, as if he was referring not only to his prior request, but to Youngjae’s thoughts. “I’ll stay.” His fingertips touched his cheek again, and he sighed at the contact. “I’ll kiss you now.” He didn’t know if the other was asking for permission or stating a fact, but he nodded nevertheless. 

 

Different from the first time, Jaebum’s lips touched his as soon as he saw him nod. His hand moved to the back of his neck, bringing him closer, and Youngjae’s run through his silky black hair. They started with a long kiss, to which they both sighed, and Jaebum’s lips started to leave small pecks throughout the path from his mouth to the end of his neck. 

 

“You’re gonna catch my fever.” He managed to say between breaths while feeling soft lips caress his collarbone.

 

“And?” The peck session was moving upwards to let their lips meet again, but Youngjae took a hold of his face before they touched and squeezed it, letting the lips pop out.

 

“I don’t want you to be sick because of me.”

 

“I’ll be your nurse, then.” Jaebum got out of his grip and gave him a slow kiss on his forehead, letting his lips ghost there before he faced him again. “Take a seat on the sofa, I’ll finish doing the dishes and I’ll make you some soup, ‘kay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get so embarassed whenever I have to write these things, oh my god.  
> I hope you like this chapter!!  
> The title is from GOOD, by GOT7 :D
> 
> \-- Ceci


	9. I clearly feel it, must be something

Jaebum ended up going home an hour before it got dark by Youngjae’s request. As the next day was a Sunday, Youngjae didn’t expect the other to come back, but he did. This time, however, he was ready for the student’s arrival. He had woken up relatively early, and his temperature was finally getting closer to 37°C. The water he had put on the fire had started to boil when he heard the door, he quickly put the fire down (safety first, kids) and headed to the door.

 

This Jaebum was different from the prior day, he stood straight and flashed him a smile. Youngjae let him in and told him to take a seat while he cooked some instant noodles for both of them.

 

“Did you sleep well?” Jaebum asked.

 

He only could get to sleep after a few hours of being tucked in bed because his mind was filled with thoughts of the previous day. After their kiss, they just held hands and watched television, but in every passing second he was thinking that if he weren’t sick, they could have spent the time differently. However, he really cherished their time together, specially taking in consideration the fact that their… relationship? was supposed to be prohibited. 

 

“I did.” He simply answered. “I feel a lot better today, my thermometer showed that too.” He started to put the instant noodles in two bowls.

 

“I’m really glad.” Jaebum headed to the dining table and waited for him to pass him a bowl. “When are you coming back to JYP?”

 

“On Tuesday, I think.” He sat on the table and motioned Jaebum to start eating the noodles. “I’ll postpone the poem assignment, though; you’ll have to turn it in next week. I’ll send Jackson a text to let your classmates know by tomorrow.” This earned a laugh from Jaebum. “What’s the matter?”

 

“Nothing, I...” He combed his hair with his hand. “When you talk about assignments, about my classmates… It reminds me that you’re my teacher and I’m your student.”

 

“Does it bother you?” Youngjae tried to act calm, but he was afraid that Jaebum would back away. 

 

“It doesn’t.” He smiled at his bowl. “I wish that we were just two guys, who met in a coffee shop and the only thing they have to worry about are the stares of jealous people at our linked hands. But I guess this is okay, too.” Youngjae reached to Jaebum’s hand and held it. He brushed the skin with his fingers and gave it a small peck.

 

“This is okay for me as well.”

 

Jaebum found a CSI marathon on Cable TV, and, with Youngjae laying his head on his lap, they spent the whole afternoon.

 

\--

 

Youngjae was glad to go back to work on tuesday. As soon as Jackson saw him on the building, he ran to him like a child and gave him a big hug.

 

“I missed you so so much!!” 

 

“You could have visited me then! Although I wouldn’t want you to have the flu, too.” He said, trying to get away from Jackson’s grip.

 

“I wanted to! But Jinyoung told me not to bother you.” He said, visibly upset. Youngjae laughed it off and catched up with him until it was time for them to teach in their respective classrooms.

 

His first class of the day was Jaebum’s. Although his students didn’t seem to notice him when he first entered the classroom, they soon saw him and everyone went to their seats. His eyes searched for someone in particular, and they finally fell on a familiar pair of moles above an eye. He smiled at Jaebum. He smiled back.

 

He rescheduled the poem assignment to the following week and, although he found it difficult to keep his eyes away from Jaebum - whose knowing grin wasn’t helping - he managed to give class as if he hadn’t been sick for a week.

 

Although Jinyoung wasn’t as enthusiastic of seeing Youngjae as Jackson was, he still seemed happy to see the other back. He spent the whole lunch break hearing how Jackson had sulked the whole week because of Youngjae’s absence and, although he completely denied it, Jinyoung had more than a hour of video and photographic evidence to prove it.

 

He heard a notification from his phone during one of the breaks between classes.

 

\--Jaebum

_ Are u free after class?? _

 

_ Yeah, why? _

 

_ Wanna take u somewhere :D _

_ Meet u at ur door at 5 _

  
  


Actually, Youngjae had to plan out some future classes because of his absence, but he really wanted to hang out with Jaebum without being deadly sick. He had enough time to go to his apartment and take a shower before Jaebum arrived. He opted for a casual -but carefully picked- attire and watched tv until some knocks could be heard on the door.

 

Although Youngjae asked him several times where they were going, Jaebum didn’t say a word and just kept his gaze up. They took the subway to a place in town he had never been to, and got off in a stop he didn’t recognize. They walked some blocks until they got to a narrow street.

 

“Is this the place where you’re gonna murder me and then hide my remains?”

 

“Just after we finished what we came here to do.” He said while giving him a small smile.

 

After a minute or two, they were in front of a shop with a sign that said ‘Our Pawrfect Place’. Jaebum took his hand and walked in. The shop was filled with dogs of all sizes; it had the aesthetic of a café but, aside from the sofas and tables, the floor had several dog plates. It definitely looked like his dreamed place; his ‘Pawrfect Place’, if he may say.

 

“Welcome to ‘Our Pawrfect Place’!” A girl that seemed to be a waiter appeared as soon as they entered the shop. “Please take a seat wherever you like.” They sat on a corner next to the window, and the waiter brought them the menu in no time. Jaebum looked at him expectantly, while Youngjae acted as if he didn’t notice the stare.

 

“What do you think?” Jaebum said, jiggling on his seat. 

 

Youngjae took his time, pretending to be carefully reading the items of the menu, but could barely keep his smile off his face. He ended up giving in, and gave him the biggest and most honest smile he had given someone in a while. 

 

“I love it. I love this place. Everything about this is so… perfect.” And Jaebum smiled back.

 

They were approached by some dogs after they ordered, ready to be pet. 

 

“Do you like dogs, Hyung?” He asked. 

 

“I do!” He said while leaving traces of the brown fur of one of the dogs. “Dogs are so pure and nice… Wait, let me correct myself. I don’t  _ like  _ dogs, I love them, adore them, worship them.” His voice got louder with every word he said. “What about you, Jaebum?”

 

“I actually like cats better. I feel more connected to them than I do to dogs, but I had a hunch that you had a thing for them.” 

 

When the waiter came back with their order, they both went to the bathroom to wash their hands (always wash your hands, kids). 

 

They stood next to each other while washing their hands, stealing glances through the mirror. When Youngjae was finally washing out the soap of his hands, he felt Jaebum right next to him, arms touching arms, tights, touching tights. Jaebum’s still wet hand brushed his hair behind his ear, and Youngjae’s neck twitched at the contact with the cold water. The hand travelled to his neck and he shivered, he turned his head to look at Jaebum and was met with a pair of hungry lips. Youngjae’s hands met at Jaebum’s back, and their lips started to move clumsily. He didn’t manage to hide a small moan when he felt a tongue touch his lips, but the other didn’t seem to mind. They kissed again and again, their tongues met and their grasp on each other began to tighten. Jaebum’s fingertips caressed his spine and was starting to make his way to his ass, Youngjae’s hands found their way to his chest and lowered to the hem of the younger’s shirt. He felt Jaebum shivering and Youngjae smiled in between their kisses. However, the shivering made him realize that his hands were wet, and that meant they were just washing their hands, which led him to take notice of the fact that they were getting steamy on the bathroom of a dog café.

 

“We should get back to the table, babe.” He hesitated before dropping the nickname, but Jaebum seemed to take a like of it.

 

“We’ll continue this in another time, then.” Jaebum answered while turning to dry his hands. “I’ll wait you there, babe.” He gave him a small squeeze on his ass and left a red faced Youngjae on the bathroom.

 

The waiters gave him a weird look when they saw him exit the bathroom and whispered to each other. The food and coffee weren’t anything exceptional, but the furry friends that walked around them gave the place a special something. Before they left the café, they were told to leave a small message in the client’s journal. Youngjae a note saying that the place was really lovely and the dogs were friendly, signing with his name and a smiley face. He tried to take a peek of what Jaebum was writing, but the younger didn’t let him.

 

Jaebum insisted on accompanying him to the apartment complex, but Youngjae argued that it was too late for him to be outside for too long. When they were about to part ways, Jaebum gave him a quick peck on the lips and ran to the subway door, which was about to close.

  
  
  
  


_ Our Pawrfect Place (❍ᴥ❍ʋ) _

_ Visitor’s log  _

  
  


_ Perfect spot for a date!   _

_ Specially the bathroom ;) _

 

_ \-- JB _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long!!  
> I had a really bad week, but writing this chapter lighten up my mood :) 
> 
>  
> 
> ...enjoy the fluff while it lasts... :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for sticking till the end!! English isn't my native language (it's spanish), but I tried my best to deliver something well written!  
> I have this... /thing/ for teacher-student 2jae, so I decided to make one of my own hahaha At first I didn't know who to put as the older one, but I figured it would be interesting to see an older Youngjae deal with teenager!JB


End file.
